


Portrait

by Dragongoddess13



Series: 21 Day Crossover Challenge [1]
Category: Criminal Minds, The Avengers (Marvel Movies), Thor (Movies)
Genre: F/M, fuckyeahdarcylewis 21 day crossover challenge, photogrpher!darcy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-06-22
Updated: 2015-06-22
Packaged: 2018-04-05 15:29:25
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,240
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4185069
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Dragongoddess13/pseuds/Dragongoddess13
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Portrait<br/>Day 1: Photography!AU<br/>21 Day Crossover Challenge<br/>Darcy Lewis/Spencer Reid</p>
            </blockquote>





	Portrait

**Author's Note:**

> “ So I kinda took this amazing still life of you while you were unaware and now I have to track you down so I can put the photo in my gallery “ photography!AU

Portrait

Day 1: Photography!AU

21 Day Crossover Challenge

xXx

Darcy didn't know who he was, but she couldn't help but watch him. She's see him occasionally in the park, sitting on the same bench. He'd go through a few books in a short time; his attention always focused on his book and never his environment. 

He was cute in an "I'm not really trying sort of way" mixed with the bookish professor look. He seemed so intense when he occasionally looked up but when his eyes returned to the pages of his book he was relaxed; at peace. 

He was there one weekend while she was snapping photos and just for the hell of it she took one of him. She didn't look at it afterward just went on her way. It wasn't until she got back to her dorm room that she really looked at it. It was probably the best shot shed taken all day. She proudly put it in her portfolio that no one would ever see and went about her business. Long stretches of time would go by between his visits to that bench in the park and occasionally Darcy would play with the idea of going over to talk to him, but she talked herself out of it every time. 

It had been weeks since she'd seen him last when she decided to take the internship in New Mexico. 

Thor happened, and She graduated then New York happened followed by  London, then SHIELD fell and Darcy forgot all about the cute nerd in the park on Culver's campus.

Darcy found herself shuffled along with Jane and her research into Stark Tower, where Pepper Potts took one look at her resume and put her in charge of the Avengers/New S.H.I.E.L.D. affiliated labs, directly under hers and Hill's supervision. 

She met the Avengers and all the S.H.I.E.L.D. agents Coulson brought along. She got to meet the Winter Soldier who was well on his way to becoming Bucky Barnes again, and she found herself whisked off to Asgard for research on occasion. 

All in all life was pretty fuckin' awesome, a little crazy, sometimes dangerous, but awesome and totally worthwhile none the less. 

It had been nearly five years, maybe longer since Darcy had last thought of the man in the park so when she was cleaning out her Stark Tower Apartment in the hopes of ridding herself of some clutter, she was surprised to find her old portfolio sitting dusty and unused on a high shelf just out of sight; out of mind. She flipped through it, a sense of nostalgia running through her. 

His picture was near the back between her mother's azaleas and a picture taken through Jane's telescope of the night sky over the dessert. She wondered where he was no, if he was sitting on the bench by the fountain in the park. Maybe he'd moved away or decided to go somewhere else to read. 

Darcy smiled softly; it was nice throwback to different time in her life. She closed the book and set it on the table; she'd figure out what to do with it later. 

Later that afternoon she was nearing the end of her task when Pepper showed up to invite her out with the girls for drinks. She was happy to go; a nice little treat after working hard all day. 

"What's this?" Pepper questioned from the living room. "A portfolio?" Darcy looked over her shoulder to find Pepper standing over the coffee table where she'd left said portfolio.

"Oh yeah, that's just a little hobby I used to dabble in." Darcy explained turning back to the task at hand. 

"Really? Mind if I have a look?"

"Not at all, help yourself." 

Pepper picked up the book and flipped it open, finding herself taken by the beautiful pictures Darcy had taken throughout the years. "These are amazing." She said her eyes never leaving the book. 

"Thank you." Silence reigned as Pepper finished flipping through the book. Quietly she slipped it into her bag before standing from the sofa. 

"I'm going to get some work done before tonight. We'll all meet in the lobby around seven."

"Sounds good." Darcy replied absently and didn't turn around as she heard the front door close. 

She didn't notice the portfolio was missing until two days later when Pepper and Tony stepped into her office. 

"You want to what?" 

Pepper smiled obligingly. "We want to put on a show."

"A gallery show." Tony inserted.

"A gallery show?" Darcy repeated slowly.

"Yes, for your photographs." 

"Why?" Pepper chuckled. 

"Because you are quite talented and we think you'd be perfect to open a series of benefits for the Maria Stark Foundation." 

"What kind of benefits?" Darcy asked hesitantly.

"Pepper thought it would be a good idea to showcase talent within the company and to use that talent to raise money for the different charities that my mother's foundation supports."

 

The point is to show the world that Stark Industries respects and supports all aspects of life and that art can be created in different ways, not just in the traditional sense." 

"But Photography is traditional."

"Yes," Pepper began. "But you are not a photographer. You didn't study to become one nor did you put this portfolio together to become famous. That makes it nontraditional." 

"Ookay." She drawled. "What would the money from this benefit go too?" 

An art program at the local children's hospital." Darcy perked up a little bit.

"Oh, that's nice." She smiled a little. I suppose since it's such a good cause. Why not." 

"Great!" Pepper exclaimed. "We want to use your whole portfolio so we'll need you to get signed wavers from any people you've photographed." Pepper handed her back her portfolio. "I've marked the pages with stick notes and slipped the paper work in."

"Okay great." Darcy replied thing through the marked pages. Most were of family members all she had to do was call and then sign for them but the last one she reached would pose a bit of a problem. "Oh wait." Darcy called out stopping them before they could leave.

"What's wrong?" Pepper asked. 

"This one," Darcy pointed to the picture of the young man she didn't know. "I don't know this guy. It was like a spur of the moment think. I just snapped his picture. I wouldn't even know where to start looking for him." 

"Oh that's too bad. I really like that one." 

"Yeah, me too." She sighed. "Well I do have to go back to Culver for a few days soon, maybe I'll hang around the park and see if he shows up." 

"Alright, well if you can't find him, it's no big deal." 

xXx

For one reason or another Culver decided she was the perfect example of success after graduation, forget that for the three years after she actually graduated she was an unpaid intern living out of a filling station in New Mexico and a futon in Jane's mom's flat in London. But hey, whatever, Tony just wanted her there to scope out talent for his labs and Jane wanted to tag along and rub it in everyone's face who'd ever doubted her that she was in fact, right. 

So they went to Virginia. Two days one night in  luxury hotel because Tony does not do anything by half measures. The first day they arrived Darcy held a little chat session where she discussed her life (what wasn't redacted, and then allowed questions. She was thankful most of the questions were actually about working in the real world but there were a few about the Avengers which were pretty tame and she was actually allowed to answer them. 

(In forming the small auditorium of student and faculty that Captain America was in fact a supporter of lgbtq+ right, marriage equality, planned parenthood and vaccinations was a lot of fun, especially since her Political Histories professor had shown up, the same professor who tried to convince his students that Captain America would have thought Fox News was a gift from God.)

When it was all over, Darcy and Jane were invited out to lunch by the faculty and the spent the next hour and a half fending off questions about research and funding and current projects. 

And when that was finally over Darcy sent Jane back to the hotel and made her way to the park in the sincere hopes of see her cute nerd. 

She sat by the fountain for nearly two hours, reading her book and occasionally looking up to peer around at the faces. She was just getting ready to call it quits and meet Jane for dinner when low and behold, he showed up. 

He was still as cute as ever, with a bit of scruff and his hair just a touch longer. The only difference seemed to be his inability to focus on his book. She didn't want to disturb or bather him, but she needed an answer about the photograph. Okay, maybe a little of that was just a desire to finally talk to the mystery guy. So she gathered her things and walked over to him. 

He looked up as she stopped in front of him. 

"Hi."

"Hello." He greeted back just as awkwardly as she felt. 

"So, um, well you don't know me and I don't know you which makes what I'm about to say just the tiniest bit strange maybe even creepy, but... Here goes. A few years ago I was a student at Culver and o saw you around a lot and one day I was taking pictures here in the park, sort of a hobby, and I just randomly snapped on of you. When I got home I liked it so much that I it in my album slash portfolio thing and kind of forgot about it when I moved away, until recently. My boss found my album and now she wants to use my photos for a charity event in New York and she really likes the one of you cause well your cute and really photogenic so it's no wonder but if it's okay with you to use the photo for the display I kind of need your signature on a release form. If it's okay. Please." 

She was rambling, it's what she did when she was nervous, but from what she could tell he seemed rather amused by her. Which boded well. 

"Uh, well sure. I suppose." Darcy breathed a sigh of relief. 

"Awesome, thank you." She told him pulling the paper work out of her bag. She handed it to him and he pulled out a pen to sign. "Spencer Reid?" She questioned when she took the paper work back. He nodded.

"Darcy Lewis." She held out a hand to shake. He took it with a lopsided smile. "Oh, here." She dug around in her bag again until she pulled out an envelope. "An invitation to the event for you and whoever you want to bring." He took the invitation. 

"Thank you." She smiled back at him. 

"You're welcome, I uh... Hope to see you there." With that she turned on her heels and made. Beeline for the hotel all the while thinking she couldn't get any redder. 

xXx

"So wait, you were invited to a gallery opening?" Garcia questioned following along as she and Reid made their way into the bull pen. 

"Yeah, I think so." He replied.

"You think so?" Prentice asked teasingly. "How do you not know?"

"She really wasn't too specific. She was talking really fast and..."

"Whoa, hold up. She?" Morgan questioned with tilt of an eyebrow. 

"Well, yeah." Morgan laughed. 

"That's my boy." He clapped Reid on the back. 

"Don't get too excited I honestly have no idea what's going on." He replied. 

"Alright, walk is through this stud." Morgan teased taking a seat while everyone turned their attention on Reid. 

"Okay, so, I read in the park on the Culver campus, I have been for years. I really like the fountain it was designed by a math student using the Fibonacci sequence, it's actually quite beautiful even if you…"

"Reid." Hotch interrupted. 

"Sorry, anyway, so I was reading yesterday afternoon and this woman comes up to me and starts telling about how she used to go to Culver and she's seen me there before she moved away and I guess she fables in photography because she was taking pictures one day and happened to take one of me and she liked it so she kept it and her boss saw it and now said boss wants to display her work for a charity event and she needed my permission to display the picture."

"And you gave it to her?" Rossi asked. Reid nodded. 

"Yeah, then she gave me an invitation to the event and said I could invite whoever I want." He started digging in his bag. "It's in New York." He found the invitation and handed it to Rossi. 

"Well are you gonna go?" Prentice asked. He shrugged.

"I don't know, probably not." 

"What? Why not?" Morgan asked. All Reid could do was shrug. "She's clearly interested in you."

"Why because she took my picture years ago?" Reid snorted incredulously. 

JJ answered. "You said she told you she's noticed you before. Sounds like she was checking you out." Reid just shook his head.

"What did you say this girl's name was?" Rossi interrupted. 

"Uh... Darcy Lewis? Why?" Rossi handed the invitation back. 

"Because that's a Stark hosted Party." He explained. Reid looked down at piece of card stock and low and behold there it was the Stark Industries water mark. 

"Huh, you know I think I've heard that name before." Garcia said turning to her tablet and typing away. In only a moment she turned the screen to face the group. "Is this her?" 

On the screen were a few candid photos of the same brunette woman at what appeared to be a Senate hearing. Another photo looked like an ID badge. "Yeah, that's her, who is she?" 

"Oh no one really, just the handler for all the scientists attached to the Avengers Initiative and S.H.I.E.L.D."

"Wow, go Reid." Morgan joked. "We are so going."

"Who says you're invited?" Reid asked incredulous. 

"Me that's who, gimme." Morgan reached out trying to take the invitation, but Reid pulled it away in time. 

xXx

"I can't believe I let you guys talk me into this." Reid groused fixing his tie for the millionth time. Prentice smacked his hand away and adjusted the knot. 

"It'll be fine Spence, at the very least we get pampered for a night." JJ replied. As a group they moved up the red carpet stopping at the door for security. 

"Name?" The guard asked. 

"Spencer Reid." He replied awkwardly. "And guests." 

"How many guests Dr. Reid." 

"Six."

The guard made a note on the list then looked over the group. "Excellent. Welcome Dr. Reid. Miss Lewis has asked me to inform you that she is making the rounds but she will find you before the exhibit opens. Enjoy your evening." The guard explained before stepping aside for them to pass.

The group passed through the foyer of Stark Mansion and stood in awe of the grandeur around them. The main floor was decorated tastefully and light lit up the rooms spectacularly. Celebrities, politicians, CEOs and socialites alike moved around the mass of bodies, traveling from the tables to the bar to the dance floor. In the far corner of the main hall were a set of closed double doors a velvet rope in front. The gallery he was sure. 

The group of friends mingled between the bar and the tables, mostly sticking with each other but occasionally speaking with politicians who recognized them. About an hour after they arrived, Reid was pulled from his conversation by the call of his name. "Dr. Reid." He turned as did his team to find Darcy approaching. "I'm so glad you could make it." She smiled brightly. 

"Thank you for inviting me." He replied. 

"Of course. I couldn't go to all the trouble of finding you and not let you see the picture for yourself."

"Speaking of which." Morgan spoke up. "Do you know when they're going to open up the gallery, we're all pretty anxious to see our boy Reid here." He stuck out his hand for her to shake. She laughed returning the gesture. 

"It shouldn't be too long now, Tony isn't exactly patient." 

"Derek Morgan." He offered.

"Darcy Lewis." 

"Oh I'm sorry." Reid interjected. 

"Darcy these are my coworkers. This is Penelope Garcia, Jennifer Jereau, Emily Prentice, David Rossi and Aaron Hotchner." 

"Are you all profilers?" She asked. They looked a little stunned that she knew that. "I'm sorry was I not supposed to know that?" 

"No, it's fine. We just didn't realize you did know." Prentice explained. 

"Sorry.Tony." She said as if that explained everything. "As well as impatient he's nosy, loud, obnoxious, crude, usually rude and self-centered." As she spoke said man walked up behind her. Without any prompting she turned to him. "Did I miss anything?"

"Well yeah, you forgot brilliant, rich, ruggedly handsome..."

"Humble." She interrupted. 

"Eh." He shrugged. "Pepper sent me over here to inform you that we will be opening the doors in five minutes." 

"Pepper sent you huh?" Darcy asked disbelieving. 

"Yes. When Pepper tells you to jump all people everywhere should ask how high. Except me. I ask how high my queen. Simple law of nature Lewis."

"Right of course, my bad. I'll be there in a minute." He nodded and turned on his heels, calling out to Steve across the room. Darcy rolled her eyes and turned back to the group. 

"That was surreal." Garcia said. Darcy chuckled. 

"I better find Pepper. See you in there?" She directed at Reid. He nodded.

"Yeah, can't wait." She smiled before turning on her heels and walking away.  

"You’re a genius Reid; you can't see she's obviously interested in you?" Rossi asked when she was gone. 

"Please, she works with superheroes I hardly think she has any interest in me." 

Morgan slapped him on the back. "You don't give yourself nearly enough credit." 

xXx

Spencer Reid had never really considered himself photogenic. He knew he wasn't unattractive per say, but compared to the likes of Morgan and Tony Stark he didn't really think he was all that impressive. Darcy had somehow managed to change his mind. With this one picture Reid was reconsidering a lot of things he believed about himself, including whether or not Darcy was interested in him.

He was aware of his team moving around him as he starred up at the photograph, but it wasn't until he heard Darcy's voice that he realized they had moved to give them privacy. "Well, what do you think?" She asked breaking through his thoughts. 

"I... I think you’re very talented." He told her tearing his eyes away to look at her. She was blushing, just the faintest tint of pink on her cheeks. Seeing her reaction Reid decided to take the kind of plunge he rarely took.

"This may seem forward but, would you like to get a cup of coffee tomorrow?" She smiled a wide, warm smile.

"I thought you'd never ask."

**Author's Note:**

> Day 2: Neighbors!AU  
> Darcy Lewis/Franklin Clay (The Losers)


End file.
